"Do you ever find yourself talking with the dead?Since Willie's death, I catch myself every day,involuntarily talking with him, as if he were with me."Abraham Lincoln - upon the death of his son

We first hear the wind slightly howling as we see dark clouds in the night sky. The camera pans down to show Frank Black's current house as we hear the distant thunder and the barking of dogs. The camera continues to pan downward as we see the path leading up to the house and the bushes blowing in the wind. The sound of the howling wind increases as we hear the ruffling of the bushes and leaves. The camera settles on a black cat sitting on a wooden barrel with the house in the background. We hear a deep throated "meeeeoooooowwww".

In the house we see a closeup of a man's hand holding a knife walking toward us. Frank jabs the knife into a pumpkin and carves out the last hole to form the pumpkin's scary face. He sighs as he wipes his hands and grabs a book of matches with The 268 Club logo. Upon opening the book of matches he notices that only one match remained and says "D-Ohh" the word Homer Simpson says when he's disappointed about something. He lights the match and then notices that the candle is not yet in the pumpkin. So, he quickly grabs a new candle still wrapped in plastic with a $2.68 price tag, unwraps it, lights it, and carefully puts it down inside the pumpkin. He then sits back into his chair and makes a crooked mouth face at the pumpkin, sighs, and then winks at it. The camera slowly zooms in through the pumpkin's eye and the candle goes out. Frank makes the crooked mouth face again, says "Hey, hey." and stands up, looking down into the top of the pumpkin as he does so.

We see a yellow post-it note sticking on the top right corner of the computer screen that says 'Jordan, Trick or treat, 6 to 8'. Frank puts on his jacket, grabs his keys, and heads out the door. He sees two kids approaching the house dressed up as a football player uniform #26 and a hockey player uniform #8.

FRANK chuckling and waving: Hey! Don't move.

Frank rushes back into the house to grab a bowl of candy by the door. The two boys look at each other and turn and leave. Frank looks disappointed and confused as he watches them walk away. He then sees a demon with red flesh and bat like wings looking back at him from the gateway of the house across the street with the street number 268. An automobile passes by and the demon is gone. I took this demon to be the Devil himself so that is how I will refer to him at this point on. Frank puts the bowl of candy back inside the house while saying "Hmm." and leaves. The camera stays inside the house. And, as we hear Frank getting into his automobile, starting it up, and driving away, the camera slowly moves up behind the pumpkin sitting on the coffee table. As it pans to the front of the pumpkin, we see that the candle is now burning bright!

The beginning theme and credits begin.

Frank and Jordan walk down a street, Jordan in a Marge Simpson costume and mask.

JORDAN: Daddy, I can't see anything.

Frank adjusts her mask as they walk up to a house with scary decorations and a witch's mechanical laugh is heard.

FRANK laughing: Go ahead Marge.

Jordan goes up on the porch of the house and knocks on the door. The door opens.

JORDAN: Trick or treat!

The lady of the house waves at Frank and he waves back. The lady gives Jordan some candy.

JORDAN: Thank you!

A couple of trick or treaters pass by Frank and he laughs as they go by. A lady screams in horror from across the street. Frank's smile goes away as he looks in that direction. In a window he sees a woman slowly walking backwards with her arms up in front of her as if she was being attacked. Then the image turns into a hockey game. It is only someone flipping channels on a wide screen TV. As Frank turns around to face the house he is standing in front of, he sees the Devil looking back at him out of a second floor window at the next house.

JORDAN: Homer. laughing

FRANK bending over and hugging Jordan: Hey! Ahh!

Frank removes Jordan's mask.

JORDAN: Hey!

They walk hand in hand to the next house.

FRANK: Did you get some goodies?

JORDAN with a big smile: Yeah.

FRANK: Can I have a piece?

JORDAN: Nooooo.

FRANK: D-Ohh. that comical Homer Simpson word again

Approaching the next house, Frank sees that the Devil is no longer in the window. When Jordan sees the house, she grabs a tight hold on to Frank's leg with a frightened look on her face.

JORDAN: Do we have to go there?

FRANK: What's the matter?

JORDAN: It feels bad!

FRANK: What do you mean, bad?

JORDAN: There's ghosts there!

FRANK: There's no such thing as ghosts.

Jordan runs on past the house. As Frank walks past the house, observing it, he notices the house number 26_8 the 3rd number is missing. This triggers a childhood recollection.

*** Remembering begins ***

Frank, aged 5 years old, and three friends are trick or treating. Young Frank, dressed as General Douglas MacArthur with sunglasses, is standing in front of a house, with a street number 268, looking up at the front door as if he was mesmerized. The other three boys, dressed as a cowboy, a hobo, and a gangster, are standing behind him.

HOBO: One of us goes inside Crocell's house. That fella splits up whatever he gets with the others, who wait out here to call the cops if the loser doesn't come out alive in five minutes. Deal?

While Young Frank is still standing in front, mesmerized by the house, the hobo decides who the loser is.

HOBO: Eenie, meenie, miny, moe. Catch a German by the toe. If he hollers let him go. Eenie, meenie, miny, moe.

The hobo stops on himself, meaning he is the loser. But he touches Young Frank on the back.

HOBO: Looks like you're it, Frank.

Young Frank turns and looks at the hobo.

HOBO giggling: Don't get scared. You shall return.

Young Frank walks and stops at the foot of the steps. The screen door is banging in the wind. Then he slowly walks up the steps and hesitantly knocks on the door. Crocell opens the door until the door chain tightens and he blows out a puff of cigarette smoke.

CROCELL: What is it?

YOUNG FRANK in a hesitant voice: Trick or treat.

CROCELL: Is that today?

Young Frank nods yes. Crocell is silent as if he was thinking.

YOUNG FRANK: I'll leave if you... if you don't got nothing.

CROCELL: No. No, no.

Crocell closes the door, removes the chain, and opens the door wider.

CROCELL: Come in here, kid.

Young Frank goes in the house. Crocell looks down at the other three boys standing below the steps and then closes the door.

CROCELL: All right kid, I'll tell you what. I'll find you some kind of treat around here if you, uh... if you do a trick for me. Deal? Hmm?

Crocell takes a drag from his cigarette, puts it out, and sits down in a chair facing Frank.

CROCELL: Do you know why you're doing this, kid? No? You know what Halloween is all about? Halloween is believed to have been started by the ancient Druids who believed that on this evening, Saman, the lord of the dead, summoned evil spirits. For the Celts, it was the last evening of the year, and an especially propitious time for examining portents of the future. And the devils and witches were free to roam the earth.

On the table is The Seattle Tribune with the headline, 'HERMANN GOERING COMMITS SUICIDE HOURS BEFORE EXECUTION'. Crocell lights a cigarette.

CROCELL: And on this night the spirits of the dead returned to visit past family and acquaintances from this life. Hmm?

Crocell drinks a shot of liquor and we see a book called 'L'Age de Raison'.

CROCELL: So, kid, for your trick, I want you to tell me... is it true? Is it possible that the, uh, dead can return? Just for, uh, five minutes.

We see a military uniform hanging in an opened closet.

CROCELL: Just to tell someone who had no idea that he'd never see them again that there's a better place than this and that they're waiting for him. Just for a minute. Just so I could have the chance to say, 'So long.' Just for a second. Just to let me know that there's a better place than this.

We see a picture on the wall with Crocell and some army buddies standing in front of an army tank.

CROCELL: Huh, kid? Now, is it true? Is it possible? 'Cause if it is... then there's a hell of a lot of guys I'd rather have here talking to me than you.

Fifteen seconds of silence - the only sounds are the ticking of the clock, and Crocell exhaling cigarette smoke.

YOUNG FRANK in a hesitant voice: There's no such thing as ghosts.

Crocell looks down, disappointed.

YOUNG FRANK: Can I have my treat now?

CROCELL chuckles: Okay.

Crocell takes a cigarette out of a pack of Lucky Seven and holds it out to Young Frank.

*** Remembering ends ***

It is a foggy night and Frank is driving down a dark wet road with leaves blown all about. He grabs his Bobby Darin CD, blows away any foreign particles and loads it in the player. It quickly pops back out.

FRANK: Come on.

Frank pushes the CD back in. It pops back out. He grabs it, wipes it across his chest, and loads it in again. It pops back out.

FRANK: Come on, Bobby.

He grabs the CD and throws it on the seat.

FRANK: Forget it.

He tries the radio. But, the programmed pre set buttons are getting nothing but static. So, he presses the seek button. It tunes in on AM 826 that's playing 'Little Demon'. The odometer reads <26007.6> and rolling.

Song lyrics: Down in the valley on a foggy hill rock, stood a crazy little demon blowing his top. Fire in his eyes and smoke from his head, you gotta be real cool to hear the words he said...

Song lyrics: He had steam in his soul for the one he loved so. He had death on his...

As the odometer rolls over to read <26008.0>, the music cuts off, the engine starts knocking, and Frank comes to a stop in the middle of nowhere. Even though there is 2/3 of a tank of gas, the motor will not start. Frank grabs his cell phone, turns it on, but after entering 555 it shuts off. He turns it on again. It shuts off.

FRANK: Oh, forget it. I surrender. I surrender.

Frank grabs his jacket and gets out. He looks at his watch and it is 8:26. He's now walking down a sidewalk. He hears footsteps approaching and heavy breathing. Suddenly he finds himself face to face with a Chig an alien from Space: Above and Beyond. They stare at each other for about 5 seconds before the person in the Chig costume continues walking. Frank follows.

FRANK: Excuse me. What street is this? My car broke down. You don't have a cell phone on you, do you?

The Chig ignores Frank and continues walking. Frank stops following.

FRANK: You look like a cell phone. What are you supposed to be anyway?

Frank sees two kids throwing eggs at a house and runs toward them.

FRANK: Hey! Come here. Come on.

The kids run off and Frank seems surprised to be facing his empty yellow house. He starts remember back when he, Catherine and Jordan first moved in.

*** Remembering begins ***

CATHERINE: I'm so happy right now. I think this move was the right thing. I really do, Frank.

*** Remembering ends ***

Frank goes around to the back of the yellow house and turns on the water hose, as if he was about to wash off the eggs. But then he sees a shadow moving through the basement window. Frank enters the front door, removes a sheet off the top of a desk, opens the drawer and grabs a flashlight. But the battery is dead. He grabs another battery, switches it, and walks into the front empty room. The window is open, so he closes it. He starts remembering happy times in this house.

*** Remembering begins ***

Frank and Catherine holding each other at the front window. Jordan in bed holding a puppy.

JORDAN giggling: I love you so much!

*** Remembering ends ***

Frank then hears whispering coming from the basement. He tiptoes down the steps. There are five teenagers, two boys and three girls, with sleeping bags and beer.

BOY 1: And this is where they found the body of Lieutenant Detective Robert Bletcher, hanging by his hunting-knife-slashed neck. Blood dripping down his tie.

Flashes of lightning illuminate a large nail in a floor beam. Loud thunder.

BOY 1: And upstairs in the refrigerator, on a plate, was his kidney.

He goes over to one of the girls who is looking a little scared. The other boy has his arm around her.

BOY 1: Ever since then, the ghost of Robert Bletcher has walked this very floor, waiting for the curse of Frank Black to be lifted.

He goes over to another girl, who is listening attentively.

BOY 1: Black's wife was named Catherine. And one time when she was living in this house all alone she saw Bletcher's ghost. She told John Stanton's mom that his throat was still cut. Blood will forever spill from the wound... until the curse is lifted.

GIRL1:' There's no such thing as ghosts.

BOY 1: Tell that to Frank Black.

Bright flashes of lightning... More loud thunder... The other boy is sitting between two frightened girls, with his arms around them both, holding a beer with a sly grin on his face.

BOY 1: They say he can see them. They say he can't escape them. That they follow him everywhere. And it is believed that the Devil uses the souls of the dead to get at people. To drive them insane. So to keep from losing to the Devil and even though he knows his friend is eternally trapped in his house, Frank Black has left and gone to... nobody knows where. And he will never be seen again.

FRANK in the darkness holding his flashlight under his chin illuminating his face: Except if you look over here.

The teenagers scream aloud and quickly grab their things.

FRANK: Leave the suds.

They scream and rush upstairs closing the basement door as they leave the house. Alone in the basement, Frank sits on the steps and thinks back to when he was a teenager.

*** Remembering begins ***

Frank, 14 years old, and four teenaged friends in a car stop in front of Crocell's house 268. Also outside the house is a Seattle police car and an ambulance.

Song lyrics: (Sweet, sweet memories you gave to me.. you can't beat the memories you gave to me..) Take one fresh and tender kiss.. (you can't beat the memories you gave to me..) Add one stolen night of bliss.. (you can't beat the memories you gave to me..)

FRIEND 1: I heard Crocell holds communist meetings in his basement. It looks like they finally caught him.

FRIEND 2: There wouldn't be an ambulance.

FRIEND 1: What if there was a shoot-out?

FRIEND 2: Naw. This kid at Roosevelt told me the cops think Crocell killed those missing prostitutes and buried them in his cellar.

We see men carrying a dead body out of Crocell's house strapped to a stretcher covered with a white sheet.

Song lyrics: (..memories you gave to me..) Fold in lightly with a dream.. (you can't beat the memories you gave to me..) Your lips and mine, two sips of wine..

TEEN FRANK: He killed himself.

Song lyrics: ..Memories are made of this..

FRIEND 1: Yeah, 'cause he couldn't take being a commie traitor.

FRIEND 3: He'll go to hell for killing himself.

Song lyrics: ..One house where lovers dwell, three little kids for the flavor.. stir carefully...

The men put the body inside an ambulance. Leaves are falling from the trees.

Song lyrics: ..With his blessing from above.. (you can't beat the memories you gave to me..) Serve it generously with love.. (you can't beat the memories you gave to me..) One man, one wife, one love through life..

*** Remembering ends ***

Frank is still in the basement sitting on the steps. He shines his flashlight up where Bletcher's body was found hanging.

The camera moves up underneath the steps toward Frank as if we are seeing through the eyes of someone... or something... moving slowly closer. As we get very close to Frank's back, there is a squeak as the basement door swings open. Startled, Frank turns quickly and looks up at the door and sees what appears to be a shadow of Bletcher hanging by the neck. But the shadow quickly disappears among other shadows from a curtain being blown by wind. Frank rushes upstairs to find that the teenagers left the front door open and wind and leaves were blowing in. He closes the door and picks up a bible from the floor that was blown to a chapter called THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES and puts it on the desk. He picks up the phone on the desk but, of course, it is not working. Frank drops the phone and walks out the door. He finds the leftover carton of eggs left by the egg throwers when he reaches the sidewalk and grabs three of them. He throws two at his yellow house with a disgusted look on his face. As he walks away, he squashes the third egg in his hand. The camera zooms in on one of the eggs that hit the window. As the eggwhite falls downward, the yolk forms a demonic face smiling.

Back at Frank's current house, we see a sign at the corner of the house that says 'ACTS: ANTI-CRIME TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS'. Frank goes up to the front door but his key will not open it. He tries to force it, without success. So he goes around to the side and enters through a window. Once inside, he notices the light coming from the pumpkin with the candle almost used up. As he walks over to it, he looks around to see if anybody is there. He takes the top off of the pumpkin and picks up the empty book of matches and looks puzzled. He leans over and blows out the candle.

Frank goes to check the front door. It opens easily. He rattles the doorknob and finds nothing wrong with it. He shuts the door and shakes his head in disbelief. He grabs a piece of candy from the bowl and a handful of mail. He shuffles through the mail as he walks back toward the living room. We see mail from 'Association of Craftsmen Technicians and Specialists', 'Academy of Children's Television Society', 'Academic Community of Teachers & Students'. As Frank sits in his chair, the TV comes on showing a demonic laughing scene of a stop-motion Devil from Ladislas Starewicz's 1933 short film 'The Mascot'. Frank drops the mail on the coffee table and stands up. The TV turns off. He then notices the TV remote in the chair where he was sitting. He picks up the TV remote, sits back down, and smiles. He turns on the TV that is now showing hockey scores.

ANNOUNCER: Turning to scores in the N.H.L. on this Halloween night it was Buffalo losing to Carolina, 2 to 6. Philadelphia added to their road-win streak beating Washington, 8 to 2.

Frank starts paying close attention to the specific numbers being shown on the TV screen and being heard from the announcer.

ANNOUNCER: Detroit, behind a Federov hat trick, beat Los Angeles, 6 to 2 and Chicago lost down in San Jose by the score of 6 to 8.

The demonic laughing stop-motion Devil pops back on the TV screen.

Frank grabs the TV remote from the coffee table and turns the TV off. It comes back on. He turns it off. It comes back on. He turns it off once again. He grabs and looks at the match book. He then grabs the plastic wrap he removed from the candle earlier and holds it up beside the match book. They both have the numbers 2, 6 and 8 the candle's $2.68 price tag and the match book's The 268 Club logo. He scratches his forehead in thought. In the dining room we see the CD player walkman turn on and start scrolling up the time index. Frank thinks back to the numerous times he has seen the numbers 2, 6 and 8 throughout the evening. He remembers the two football and hockey player trick or treaters that had uniform numbers 26 & 8; the house with the number 26_8 when he took Jordan trick or treating. We see the CD player's time index scroll on upward to 16:ss then 17:ss the seconds are just a blur so I'm using ss. Frank remembers the odometer stopping on <26008.0>; the hockey scores on TV having various combinations of 2, 6 and 8.

FRANK: What?

Frank associates the occurrences of these numbers back to Crocell's house number 268. Then we see the CD player's time index scrolling to 25:ss then 26:ss. The time index stops on 26:08 and 'Little Demon' starts playing again.

Song lyrics: Down in the valley on a foggy hill rock, stood a crazy little demon blowing his top. Fire in his eyes and smoke from his head, you gotta be real cool to hear the words he said...

Frank gets up out of his chair and walks over to the CD player and pushes the stop button. It does not stop playing. He pushes it again. It does not stop playing.

Frank picks up the CD player and pulls out the power adapter. It does not stop playing. He sees the time index blinking on 26:08. He opens the battery compartment and takes out the batteries. It finally stops playing. He drops the batteries on the table and opens the CD player. There is no CD inside. Frank rests his head in his hand and he looks bewildered.

Frank is startled by a knock on the window. He walks over and opens it and sees an ACTS security guard.

FRANK: Yeah?

GUARD: Got a report someone's climbing in through this window.

FRANK: It was me. I'm Frank Black. I live here. The lock on my door was jammed. Is there some kind of an electrical surge going on because of the storm? My electronics are all going crazy.

GUARD: Crazy how?

FRANK: Just crazy, you know. Naw.

GUARD: Now, if there's nothing else and you're secure?

FRANK: Yeah.

GUARD: We got to get moving.

FRANK: Right.

They shake hands and the guard leaves. As the guard is walking away, Frank notices A.C.T.S. on the back of the guard's yellow raincoat. He runs to the living room window and watches the guard get into his car. He grabs and shuffles through the mail again from 'Association of Craftsmen Technicians and Specialists', 'Academy of Children's Television Society', 'Academic Community of Teachers & Students'. He looks out the window again and as the security car drives away we see the license plate 'ACTS 268'. Frank then walks over and grabs a bible from a shelf and sits down in his chair. He opens it to 'The Acts of the Apostles: Acts 1-28'. He puts on his glasses and flips through the pages until he finds 'Acts 26.14'. Scrolling down the page he finds passage 8 which reads 'Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?'. He sits back in his chair and sighs, hugging the bible close to his chest. He then looks at the pumpkin sitting on the coffee table in front of him, and notices the knife that he used to carve its face with is now sticking out of its forehead.

Note: In the previous scenes, the first time we, the viewer, see the knife sticking out of the pumpkin's forehead is just after Frank turns the TV off the last time and he started comparing the candle's price tag and the match book's logo.

Later that night. The wind is howling, blowing leaves around. We hear loud scrapping and growling as the camera moves through the house. Frank is on his bed asleep, still dressed, with his glasses and a bible on the pillow beside him. We hear more growling. Frank slowly rolls over on his back still half asleep and looks at the digital clock on the bedside table. It reads 2:08.. then 2:68.. then back to 2:08.. and back to 2:68.. back and forth non-stop. We hear low snarling. Frank comes out of the bedroom holding a flashlight looking for the origin of the noise. The dining room lights are flickering so he flips the light switch up and they come on. We hear more scrapping and rumbling. He goes into the foyer and flips on another light and looks up the stairs. He jiggles the front door and finds that it is secure. The stairway lights will not come on so he turns on his flashlight and rushes upstairs. He follows the sound of the rumbling and growling to a closet door. When quickly opening the door, boxes come falling down from an upper shelf. He pushes aside some garments hanging in clear plastic coverings. He notices a yellow and black striped garment.

FRANK: Now that's scary.

Frank notices an opening in the ceiling of the closet that leads to the attic. He grabs a chair from the hallway, places it on top of a trunk, and climbs up. The attic is long and pretty much empty. He shines the light and moves around inspecting the surroundings. On the far end we see a trunk underneath a square window. The other end is pretty much empty as well. But, when Frank turns back around, he is shocked to see, sitting on the trunk, the ghost of Crocell lighting a cigarette.

CROCELL: I know you're feeling strange right now kid. But, believe me it's a hell of a lot creepier for me to be back. That night I was so dying to know if the dead can return. If there was anything afterwards. Remember? The time when you're really asking the question and when you really need to know just goes by like, poof, nothing. But you know the answer: forever. I'll tell you this - all that stuff you hear about the fire and the brimstone and the rats and the excrement and the demons tormenting you for all of eternity - there's none of that stuff. It's worse. It is so much worse. It is for me at least. Imagine having to suck on this for all of eternity referring to his cigarette. Man, I wish someone had told me laugh. Others, they, uh, they ain't got it so bad I guess. I don't know. But you'll know, soon enough. I've been sent here because you've become me. The way people look at you... what they say about you. Making stuff up. Pretty soon you come to believe it's true and then it's really all over. Huh, you know, I threw things at my house, too. Not eggs though. I think I threw dog crap. Yeah, I threw dog crap from my back yard at my kitchen window. laugh I never cleaned it off. Imagine that. The one thing you've got that I never did is that you're getting close to understanding what's about to happen. And he's been watching you. Uh-huh. Oh yeah. More closely and more often, the closer you get. Here's the deal, kid. Give up the fight. Sit it out. Forget about this Millennium Group. Go back to your wife and to your daughter and to your puppy and to your yellow house and just live out a nice, happy, normal life and there's going to be a place for all three of you afterwards. A place, believe me, where a lot of souls wish they could be. But you pass on this... and you're going so much farther than I have ever been. Hell, the way you gutted that guy who took your wife... the anger inside of you... Whew. I don't know why you're not being offered a sweeter deal. You got the heat inside of you to fight for this side. So what I'm asking of you is really simple. Sit back and do nothing. Anyone can do it. Hell, most people do. Take this deal, kid. Secure you and your family's future. Because the time is near and he will win. There's no way he can lose.

Frank turns away.

FRANK: When will it happen?

When Frank turns back to face Crocell, he is no longer there. All we see is cigarette smoke lingering over the trunk. Frank climbs back down into the closet, sits in the chair on top of the closet trunk, and sighs looking upward. Upon returning downstairs we hear beeping. Frank's computer is now on, beeping as the ouroboros blinks. Inside the ouroboros we see 'Welcome Frank. There are 790 days remaining.' Frank just stands there staring at the screen.

Frank returns to his automobile. It is still dark out and the rain has stopped. He gets in, starts it right up, and drives off. Then we see him pull up in front of his yellow house. It is daylight now and the early sun is shining bright. He grabs a bucket out of the front floorboard and walks up to the yellow house. He first starts washing the large window that has the egg yolk that took on the form of a demonic face. As Frank washes the window, through the soapsuds streaks, he sees the Devil inside the house looking back at him. Frank slows down, looks inside at the Devil, then starts washing the window vigorously. When he slows back down and looks inside once again, the Devil is no longer there. As the camera pans back away from the house, Frank washes the other egg spots, cleaning his yellow house.